And just to confuse everyone WA also has different dates for start and end (as I have just found out).

So even though my DD will start pre-primary in WA when we move to the ACT in May she will not have to go to school but she can go to pre-school (which is the equivalent to WAs Kindy, which she did last year). Phew...

In Tasmania all primary schools go from kinder. Kinder is 3 days a week. Whilst I don't know a lot about preschool program's in other states, I see kinder as being different. The children wear a uniform, you pay levies to the school that cover materials and excursions only (and it is totally free if you qualify for student assistance), every child gets a place, almost every child in the right age group attends and the children have PE lessons and the like with the specialist teacher that does it for the rest of the school. My children have also done swimming lessons. Academically my children have bought home readers and have handwriting and number books. Whilst lots of learning by play, there are still structured lessons. Also in many schools I know there is a combined kinder and prep class, whilst I don't believe any preschool program's combine their classes with those doing their first full time year of schooling.

As a parent, my children starting kinder has been a lot more significant to me than them starting prep. Soi don't think it is quite as straightforward as made out.

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With the cooler weather upon us, here is a collection of easy winter inspired cut, sew, knit crafts that you can do with the kids. There are glove monsters, no-sew scarfs, and sock snowmen. Winter is a great time to get crafting.

Fidgets and other sensory hand held toys are a great way to encourage attention and concentration. We all love to rock on a chair and click our pens or chew gum to stay alert and attentive, so why not let children have functional and socially acceptable fidgets too, to help them learn and keep them focused on learning.